JCPL Has the "411" on New Fiction!

Like most kids, I often wondered what I would be when I grew up. I thought being a secretary would be a great job, but I was really worried, because I knew that secretaries had to learn to write in shorthand.

Seeing some shorthand guides that my mom had around the house, I tried to study those little symbols, but could never piece together how you would actually make a sentence out of them, much less figure out what you had written down after it was all said and done.

Little did I know that as an adult, I would be just as confused when it came to the newest form of communication; texting!

Texting is a test of endurance for me. Where some are CAAC (cool as a cucumber), not every1 (everyone) is ABT2 (about to) understand the 411 (information), and B4YKI (before you know it), you may be ALOL (actually laughing out loud) and be tempted to CSG (chuckle, snicker, grin) at your own boo boos. Texting, I think, is H2S (here to stay), and soon it will be easy as AP (apple pie). AWYFY (are we having fun yet?) If not, you’re ABT2 (about 2), as you read about these new fiction titles at JCPL that are 2GTB4G (too good to be forgotten)! Read on!

When ten year old Micah Ellis dies, his parents, Nonie and David Ellis, are put on trial for reckless manslaughter because the family relied solely on prayer to heal their cancer-stricken child. Led by their church’s charismatic but underhanded leader, Reverend C.G. Westlund, the overzealous followers of the cult-like religion that they have relied upon find themselves surrounded by a firestorm of controversy. When it is discovered that Westlund coerced Nonie into signing an insurance policy listing himself as beneficiary in the event of Micah’s death, the evidence mounts, along with the action in “Bad Faith” by Robert K. Tanenbaum.

When a notorious Russian black marketer holds a fancy reception, Doc Ford goes under the cover of darkness to investigate the billionaire’s yacht. Meanwhile, environmental extremists have overtaken the small Florida island, herding everyone together and taking them hostage, promising that one hostage will die every hour until their demands are met. With communication impossible, their only hope for survival may be Doc Ford’s special capabilities. The clock is ticking and time is of the essence in “Chasing Midnight” by Randy Wayne White.

Holly Oak has been home to generations, beginning with Susannah Page, a young bride rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North. The mansion is known to be haunted by the ghost of Susannah Page, but when Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the west to her husband’s home, she comes to believe that the house itself holds misfortune for the women who live there, and sets out to uncover the truth about Holly Oak in “A Sound Among the Trees” by Susan Meissner.

The setting is a decaying old mansion called Arcadia in western New York State, the era, 1970’s.

A group of a dozen or so idealists set up a commune on the grounds of Arcadia; among them, Handy, a musician and the charismatic leader of the group, Astrid, a midwife, Abe, a master carpenter, Hannah, a baker and historian, and Abe and Hannah’s only child, Bit, born soon after the commune is settled. Narrated by Bit, “Arcadia” by Lauren Groff chronicles the rise and fall of Arcadia as seen through the eyes of Bit, who is struggling to become his own man outside of the commune.

Now you have the 411 (information) that you need, so PLZ (please) HAND (have a nice day) and GFI (go for it), b/c (because) at JCPL, good fiction is H2S (here to stay)! So T2UL (talk to you later) every1 (everyone)!